U.S. sanctions India-based ship registry network and Turkish ground services firm under Iran order

The Treasury Department on Wednesday, Nov. 4, added four people in India, nine entities and a Turkey-based aviation services company to its sanctions list under Executive Order 13902, which the State Department says targets Iran’s petroleum, petrochemical and aviation sectors, among others.¹²³

These designations are U.S. government determinations, not court findings or convictions. Descriptions of conduct below are Treasury’s and the State Department’s.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, announcing the action under what Treasury calls Operation Economic Outcast, said, “We know where you are, and we will sanction those who continue supporting the Iranian regime, whether by land, sea, or air.”¹

Who was designated, and on what basis

All cite E.O. 13902; locations are from the Office of Foreign Assets Control.¹²

• Suniel Kumar Sharma, Chandigarh, India: “for operating in the petroleum sector” of Iran’s economy.
• Jaspreet Preeti Shahid, Chandigarh, whom the State Department identifies as his wife: for having “materially assisted, sponsored, or provided” support to Sharma.
• Ashwani Kumar Dhiman and Ishwinder Singh, Chandigarh: for having “acted or purported to act” for Aryavart Ship Management Private Limited. Treasury says they “nominally serve as directors” of Aryavart and other Sharma businesses.
• As owned or controlled by, or acting or purporting to act for, Sharma: Oceaniek Technologies India (Chandigarh and Mohali), of which Treasury calls him managing director.
• On the same basis, for Shahid: Aryavart Maritime and Educational Trust (Chandigarh); Eswatini Maritime Affairs and International Ship Registry PTE. Ltd. (Singapore); and these Private Limited companies: Aryavart Ship Management, Precept Trends, Polynesia Maritime, Alexarya Finserv, Alexarya Media and Entertainment (all Chandigarh) and Viharaboating (Kerala).
• Fugo Ground Services Inc, Istanbul: “for operating in the aviation sector” of Iran’s economy.

OFAC’s Nov. 4 list also adds a 15th name, Alisher Domullodzhanov of Russia’s Moscow region, and adds the same tag, [IRAN-CON-ARMS-EO], to two existing entries.² The State Department says it designated those three under E.O. 13949, on Iran’s conventional arms activities, and that Domullodzhanov was involved in efforts to help Iran obtain man-portable air-defense systems.⁴

What the government says happened

Treasury says the Sharma network bought web domains and built sites claiming to act for countries that had not authorized them, then gave false flags and certifications to sanctioned vessels carrying Iranian petroleum, including ships working for Iran’s military and its proxies. It dates the activity to as early as 2014 and says the couple “defrauded maritime regulatory administrations in multiple jurisdictions.” Named countries include Guyana, Eswatini, Laos, Aruba, Mali, Mozambique, Malawi, Sint Maarten and Timor-Leste.¹ The State Department says most of the governments involved have publicly disavowed the registries.³

Treasury says Fugo serves several Iranian airlines the U.S. has designated, with direct service agreements with carriers including Iran Air Tour, Saha, Sepehran, Varesh, Taban and Ata.¹

What the sanctions do

Property of those designated in the U.S. or held by U.S. persons is blocked, as are entities owned 50% or more by blocked persons. U.S. persons generally cannot deal with them without a license.¹

OFAC also issued an alert warning of “substantial risk of designation or penalties” for serving vessels using false flags.⁵ The State Department called on flag states, port authorities and the maritime industry to check registrations and deny shadow fleet vessels access to ports and waters.³

Responses

Reuters reported, “India has so far not commented on the latest sanctions.”⁶ We found no published statement from the governments of Turkey or Iran on this action, or from those designated, as of Thursday.

What the records do not show

• No court has ruled on these determinations in any record we opened. The Treasury release cites no court finding.¹
• The records differ on the start. The alert says the network at first provided legitimate flagging services for places including Dominica, Guyana, Eswatini and Nicaragua, which later ended the relationship; the release says the couple sought to impersonate Dominica’s authority in 2014.⁵¹